Giorgio Morandi – Time Suspended II is among the largest and most significant exhibitions devoted to the artist in the United States in 20 years. Curated by Marilena Pasquali – founder and director of the Giorgio Morandi Study Center, Bologna – and gallerist Mattia De Luca, the exhibition brings together approximately 60 works from across Morandi’s career on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the artist’s death. 

With paintings and works on paper dating between 1913 and 1964, the exhibition includes the artist’s signature still life arrangements, as well as landscapes and flower paintings, and feature a number of works that have never before been shown in New York. The exhibition aims to offer insights on the figure of Morandi as a man and artist firmly anchored to the 20th century: a man who lived through two world wars and felt the weight of disillusionment, the loss of references, the defeat of all beliefs. In fact, the show affirms that Morandi is also a painter for our time.

In adopting the stillness inherent in the still-life as a genre, the painter seeks a mental order, a harmony of form, a matter that becomes light, without displacing the aura of doubt that can be felt in these images. Morandi’s search for mental order and harmony of form during those troubling times is clearly reflected in his still life arrangements, in which he transforms external chaos into a period of waiting – suspending time and judgement to avoid the realities of the era.

In a recent interview for The Observer, Mattia De Luca said, “Morandi lived through two world wars, an experience that is very difficult to grasp today from such a historical distance. He initially looked at the great political changes of his time with trust and hope but was soon deeply disenchanted by the outcome of the events. 

“He also personally paid with a brief incarceration for having distanced himself from the political issues and having friends among those writers, poets and painters who openly stood against Fascism. His work teaches us a very personal, cultural, human form of resistance carried out with the perseverance and consistency of solitary work. Certainly a difficult lesson but also a way to underscore those unshakable values that help humanity overcome difficult times.” All photos by Nicholas Knight for Mattia De Luca gallery 

Giorgio Morandi – Time Suspended II continues at Mattia De Luca through November 26 at Mattia De Luca, 8 East 63^rd Street, New York, NY Appointment required.